It& #39;s easier to stop a pandemic before it starts than to fix it once it& #39;s out of control.
It& #39;s easier to protect a species than bring it back from the edge of extinction.
It& #39;s easier to re-tool the economy for clean energy before climate disasters start striking.

It& #39;s easier to keep chemicals out of the water than it is to remove them once they are in.
It& #39;s easier to make sure every child has their basic needs meet than it is to manage a society of grown-ups whose needs weren& #39;t met as children.

We demand environmental protections and human rights and taking care of the vulnerable because that is basic ethics, but it& #39;s not lost on us that each of these is also just deeply practical, and frugal, and actually efficient.